3,254 research outputs found
Answering Complex Questions by Joining Multi-Document Evidence with Quasi Knowledge Graphs
Direct answering of questions that involve multiple entities and relations is a challenge for text-based QA. This problem is most pronounced when answers can be found only by joining evidence from multiple documents. Curated knowledge graphs (KGs) may yield good answers, but are limited by their inherent incompleteness and potential staleness. This paper presents QUEST, a method that can answer complex questions directly from textual sources on-the-fly, by computing similarity joins over partial results from different documents. Our method is completely unsupervised, avoiding training-data bottlenecks and being able to cope with rapidly evolving ad hoc topics and formulation style in user questions. QUEST builds a noisy quasi KG with node and edge weights, consisting of dynamically retrieved entity names and relational phrases. It augments this graph with types and semantic alignments, and computes the best answers by an algorithm for Group Steiner Trees. We evaluate QUEST on benchmarks of complex questions, and show that it substantially outperforms state-of-the-art baselines
The Homogeneous Broadcast Problem in Narrow and Wide Strips
Let be a set of nodes in a wireless network, where each node is modeled
as a point in the plane, and let be a given source node. Each node
can transmit information to all other nodes within unit distance, provided
is activated. The (homogeneous) broadcast problem is to activate a minimum
number of nodes such that in the resulting directed communication graph, the
source can reach any other node. We study the complexity of the regular and
the hop-bounded version of the problem (in the latter, must be able to
reach every node within a specified number of hops), with the restriction that
all points lie inside a strip of width . We almost completely characterize
the complexity of both the regular and the hop-bounded versions as a function
of the strip width .Comment: 50 pages, WADS 2017 submissio
An Empirical Analysis of Approximation Algorithms for the Unweighted Tree Augmentation Problem
In this thesis, we perform an experimental study of approximation algorithms for the tree augmentation problem (TAP). TAP is a fundamental problem in network design. The goal of TAP is to add the minimum number of edges from a given edge set to a tree so that it becomes 2-edge connected. Formally, given a tree T = (V, E), where V denotes the set of vertices and E denotes the set of edges in the tree, and a set of edges (or links) L ⊆ V × V disjoint from E, the objective is to find a set of edges to add to the tree F ⊆ L such that the augmented tree (V, E ∪ F) is 2-edge connected. Our goal is to establish a baseline performance for each approximation algorithm on actual instances rather than worst-case instances. In particular, we are interested in whether the algorithms rank on practical instances is consistent with their worst-case guarantee rankings. We are also interested in whether preprocessing times, implementation difficulties, and running times justify the use of an algorithm in practice. We profiled and analyzed five approximation algorithms, viz., the Frederickson algorithm, the Nagamochi algorithm, the Even algorithm, the Adjiashivili algorithm, and the Grandoni algorithm. Additionally, we used an integer program and a simple randomized algorithm as benchmarks. The performance of each algorithm was measured using space, time, and quality comparison metrics. We found that the simple randomized is competitive with the approximation algorithms and that the algorithms rank according to their theoretical guarantees. The randomized algorithm is simpler to implement and understand. Furthermore, the randomized algorithm runs faster and uses less space than any of the more sophisticated approximation algorithms
Connectivity Oracles for Graphs Subject to Vertex Failures
We introduce new data structures for answering connectivity queries in graphs
subject to batched vertex failures. A deterministic structure processes a batch
of failed vertices in time and thereafter
answers connectivity queries in time. It occupies space . We develop a randomized Monte Carlo version of our data structure
with update time , query time , and space
for any failure bound . This is the first connectivity oracle for
general graphs that can efficiently deal with an unbounded number of vertex
failures.
We also develop a more efficient Monte Carlo edge-failure connectivity
oracle. Using space , edge failures are processed in time and thereafter, connectivity queries are answered in
time, which are correct w.h.p.
Our data structures are based on a new decomposition theorem for an
undirected graph , which is of independent interest. It states that
for any terminal set we can remove a set of
vertices such that the remaining graph contains a Steiner forest for with
maximum degree
Combinatorial Optimization
This report summarizes the meeting on Combinatorial Optimization where new and promising developments in the field were discussed. Th
Constrained Planarity and Augmentation Problems
A clustered graph C=(G,T) consists of an undirected graph G and a rooted tree T in which the leaves of T correspond to the vertices of G=(V,E). Each vertex m in T corresponds to a subset of the vertices of the graph called ``cluster''. c-planarity is a natural extension of graph planarity for clustered graphs, and plays an important role in automatic graph drawing. The complexity status of c-planarity testing is unknown. It has been shown by Dahlhaus, Eades, Feng, Cohen that c-planarity can be tested in linear time for c-connected graphs, i.e., graphs in which the cluster induced subgraphs are connected. In the first part of the thesis, we provide a polynomial time algorithms for c-planarity testing of specific planar clustered graphs: Graphs for which - all nodes corresponding to the non-c-connected clusters lie on the same path in T starting at the root of T, or graphs in which for each non-connected cluster its super-cluster and all its siblings in T are connected, - for all clusters m G-G(m) is connected. The algorithms are based on the concepts for the subgraph induced planar connectivity augmentation problem, also presented in this thesis. Furthermore, we give some characterizations of c-planar clustered graphs using minors and dual graphs and introduce a c-planar augmentation method. Parts II deals with edge deletion and bimodal crossing minimization. We prove that the maximum planar subgraph problem remains NP-complete even for non-planar graphs without a minor isomorphic to either K(5) or K(3,3), respectively. Further, we investigate the problem of finding a minimum weighted set of edges whose removal results in a graph without minors that are contractible onto a prespecified set of vertices. Finally, we investigate the problem of drawing a directed graph in two dimensions with a minimal number of crossings such that for every node the incoming and outgoing edges are separated consecutively in the cyclic adjacency lists. It turns out that the planarization method can be adapted such that the number of crossings can be expected to grow only slightly for practical instances
The Power of Dynamic Distance Oracles: Efficient Dynamic Algorithms for the Steiner Tree
In this paper we study the Steiner tree problem over a dynamic set of
terminals. We consider the model where we are given an -vertex graph
with positive real edge weights, and our goal is to maintain a tree
which is a good approximation of the minimum Steiner tree spanning a terminal
set , which changes over time. The changes applied to the
terminal set are either terminal additions (incremental scenario), terminal
removals (decremental scenario), or both (fully dynamic scenario). Our task
here is twofold. We want to support updates in sublinear time, and keep
the approximation factor of the algorithm as small as possible. We show that we
can maintain a -approximate Steiner tree of a general graph in
time per terminal addition or removal. Here,
denotes the stretch of the metric induced by . For planar graphs we achieve
the same running time and the approximation ratio of .
Moreover, we show faster algorithms for incremental and decremental scenarios.
Finally, we show that if we allow higher approximation ratio, even more
efficient algorithms are possible. In particular we show a polylogarithmic time
-approximate algorithm for planar graphs.
One of the main building blocks of our algorithms are dynamic distance
oracles for vertex-labeled graphs, which are of independent interest. We also
improve and use the online algorithms for the Steiner tree problem.Comment: Full version of the paper accepted to STOC'1
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